IRobot Roomba 960 - Our independent review

Finally, an intelligent navigation system with room mapping arrives in the iRobot Roomba range . Coupled with the Roomba cleaning system (the most powerful and accurate), it should give rise to the best robot vacuum cleaner on the market. So let's see if iRobot Roomba 960 keeps its promises: how it moves around the house, how it cleans, what its functions are, and above all how much it costs and whether it is worth buying.

Roomba 960 has a diameter of 35 cm and is 9.1 cm high. Its loss is 3.9 kg. In the box you will find the robot, equipped with a reserve filter and a reserve side brush. In addition there is a Dual Mode Virtual Wall accessory, the lithium ion battery and the charging base. The latter should be positioned along a wall of your home, possibly with a little empty space around it, to allow the robot to return to it when the battery is running low.

Navigation system and functions

With the 960 model, Roomba finally makes use of an intelligent navigation system, called iAdapt 2.0. After so many series (up to 800) that moved randomly, here is the camera for visual navigation. Thanks to it, iRobot Roomba 960 will always know where it is, it will perform a mapping to understand how your apartment is arranged, and it will cover all the rooms efficiently, without neglecting anything. The navigation system of iRobot is not, for now, at the level of laser scanning provided by Neato Robotics models: this, in fact, also works in the dark, while visual navigation only works with light. Thanks to infrared sensors, Roomba will slow down before obstacles and avoid falling down stairs. Roomba 960's battery lasts about 75 minutes, but after returning to the base and recharging, the robot resumes cleaning from where it left off. Other features include Wi-Fi connectivity, which allows you to connect the robot to its smartphone application. Thanks to this, it is possible to program iRobot Roomba 960, and make it perform day-to-day cleaning at a predetermined time. In addition, thanks to the application, you can see a report of the cleaning performed, and you receive updates, some of which can add new functions to your robot. With the Dual Mode Virtual Wall accessory it is possible to create a virtual wall that the robot will not go through during the cleaning cycle, or create a circular area, 1.2 meters in diameter, which is also excluded from the Roomba 960 path.

Cleaning system

The cleaning system of the iRobot Roomba 960 uses a side brush, which collects dust from edges and corners, while two silicone rollers have the task of lifting and comminuting the particles, directing them towards the basket also thanks to the powerful suction motor , improved in the 900 series to have about 10 times the power of the 600 series. It is also equipped with the Dirt Detect function, which understands when a part of the floor is particularly dirty. In this case, the robot performs multiple passes in the area, further increasing the quality of cleaning. Thanks to this system, Roomba 960 wins the comparison with all competitors and deserves a nice 10 in terms of cleaning efficiency, especially on carpets.

Maintenance

After each cleaning cycle it is good to empty the dust tank, clean the filter (vacuuming it with another vacuum cleaner), and remove any tangles from the silicone roller brushes, which is also very simple. Occasionally, it is good to check that hair or hair has not tangled around the axes of rotation of the wheels. It is important that they can always turn freely, so as not to compromise navigation.

The price of the iRobot Roomba 960 is high-end, a bit like all robotic vacuum cleaners with a mapping function. Its features are among the most advanced available on the market today, and it does a really good job. In addition, iRobot offers an excellent support and assistance service. Fortunately, there are often offers on Amazon and other online stores that allow us to have it at a discounted price. Thanks to our website, you always have the opportunity to compare the various prices and decide for the best.

For this model, released in 2016, there are several reviews on Amazon, which score one of the best results in the category: 4.6 stars out of 5. 93% of users leave a 4 or 5 star review for this model, denoting a general satisfaction. The reviews follow, in essence, our review: there are some flaws in the navigation system, and the app does not have many functions, while on the effectiveness of cleaning the opinions on iRobot Roomba 960 are all positive.

In conclusion, iRobot Roomba 960 is an excellent product. No longer being the top of the range model of iRobot, thanks to the release of the Roomba 980/981 which do not add much, sometimes it is also found at attractive prices, although always quite high. It's a bit like for smartphones: instead of buying the latest model of iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, it is often better to buy the penultimate one at a discounted price.